Brainstorming Deck Ideas (Standard)

[skeri]

What are you all thinking for standard decks using the new Eldritch Moon cards? I would love to nerd out and collaborate with you guys on what types of decks, which individual cards, and what play styles you think will become effective in the upcoming months.

I personally think some tribal decks could become viable in this set and be really neat. B/W seems like it could be really awesome as well.

I am so excited for the new set but also so overwhelmed with everything (in life and in Magic) right now that I have no clue where to even start as far as deck building. 

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas! 

[KouriNick]

Hi Skeri!

I'm also super excited about this set, and would be honored to nerd out with you!

I think you're right about Black / White. Eldritch Moon may finally push the Lifegain/Drain deck over the top with Lone Rider // It That Rides As One, Collective Effort, Collective Brutality, Vampire Cutthroat, and Gisela the Broken Blade. The Lone Rider + Gisela especially seem made for each other and can easily be a really big problem (or blessing if you're the one playing it ).

As for tribal, I'm also totally on board with you. Spirits, Zombies, Werewolves, and Vampires all got huge boosts in Eldritch moon and I can't decide which one I want to try first. I'm leaning Spirits right now just because it's so different, and I really want to try Mausoleum Wanderer, Rattlechains, and Spell Queller all together. Plus with the new Sigarda's Aid, I think it could be the new equipment deck. Run a few Slayer's Plate and Sword of the Animist maybe a couple Captain's Claws. Sounds like a fun deck to me

Vampires though... that's just so tempting... Collective Brutality just screams Madness (literally and figuratively), Stensia Banquet could definitely be win condition, and there are so many new Madness enablers! Furyblade Vampire and Stromkirk Condemned enable such powerhouses like Bloodhall Priest and Voldaren Pariah // Abolisher of Bloodlines. Vampires will definitely be a thing now! the humans won't stand a chance

I know its been a busy time for you, but are there any cards in particular you're really looking forward to trying / hoping to pull on the weekend?

[Jabilac]

I don't know about you guys but I'm interested in getting to play with Emerge.  I was hoping for more creature options with Emerge but I really like Decimator of the Provinces.  He's a new Craterhoof Behemoth that can be easier to cast, bigger, and always has trample.   Distended Mindbender is really nice.  An Inquisition of Kozilek and the opposite of Inquisition of Kozilek on a 5/5 body Getting that to drop on turn 4 will be awesome.  Elder Deep-Fiend has some nice stats too.  5/6 Flash that taps 4 permanents when cast... Looks good to me.  Wretched Gryff isn't too bad either 3/4 flyer with cantrip.

I can see U/W spirits as a fun new archtype for all the reasons KouriNick already stated really.  My question is... Will it be better then G/W humans?  I think that will be the deck to beat.  Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Hamlet Captain, Thalia's Lancers, Foul Emissary, Courageous Outrider, Lone Rider, Thalia's Lieutenant, Tireless Tracker, Sigarda, Heron's Grace, Gisela, the Broken Blade,whatever else is available in standard, and a little splash for Tamiyo, Field Researcher.  Looks solid on paper.

[G. Moto]

   As far as the new set goes I'm seeing a lot of support for tribal synergies as well as the push towards the Eldrazi. Here are a couple deck variations that can be done (or at least I see coming about in this new block);

(W/U) Spirits        (W/B) Life gain W/ Sac engine            (W/G/U) Tamiyo/Investigate       (W/B/G) Eldrazi Cult

(U/B) Zombies         (U/R) Spirits/Prowess                      (U/W/B) Spirits                         (U/R/W) Saint Traft aggro

(B/R) Vampires         (B/G) Horrors/Delirium                   (B/U/R) Stromkirk Control         (B/G/U) "Growing Eldrazi"

(R/W) Angels/Humans        (R/G) Werewolves                 (R/B/G) Aggro                           (R/W/B) Vampiric Army

(G/W) Human Tokens        (G/U) Investigation                 (G/R/W) Human aggro              (G/U/R) "Wild Spirits"


These are just some Ideas that I have for this new set coming out. They may be augmentations of older decks or they could be something completely new but they'll definitely be fun. As long as someone comes up with a deck that wipes out Eldrazi (since now all 3 eldrazi Titans are in STANDARD). I hope these decks give you some ideas Skeri.

[skeri]

Oh I'm all abuzz with ideas right now! I think a mono white spirit/clerics deck would be cool thematically but not a good choice for competitive play.

R/W human aggro is something I could see becoming a thing, but probably not better than the G/W humans that are popular right now.

I love the idea of U/W spirits and I think I would capitalize on these cards working together: Mausoleum Wanderer, Nebelgast Herald, Drogskol Cavalry, and Rattlechains.

I have been really really wanting to find a way to build a W/B creatures deck that exploits Unruly Mob and Gavony Unhallowed, and Westvale Abbey but I haven't had time to play around with it.

I will probably tweak my B/R vampire aggro and see how well it does with the new cards in it. I'm definately interested in Stensia Banquet, Stromkirk Occultist, Stromkirk Condemned, Insatiable Gorgers, and Furyblade Vampire.

B/U zombies or zombie horror would be awesome, especially a tribal zombie horror Thing In The Ice deck. I'm really liking the value you get out of Cemetery Recruitment much better than Macabre Waltz because you get that draw without the discard. Noosegraf Mob is going to be an awesome compliment to Thing In the Ice. Ruthless disposal also seems like a great card for contending with the Eldrazi Titans.

[KouriNick]

Oh I'm all abuzz with ideas right now! I think a mono white spirit/clerics deck would be cool thematically but not a good choice for competitive play.

R/W human aggro is something I could see becoming a thing, but probably not better than the G/W humans that are popular right now.

I love the idea of U/W spirits and I think I would capitalize on these cards working together: Mausoleum Wanderer, Nebelgast Herald, Drogskol Cavalry, and Rattlechains.

I have been really really wanting to find a way to build a W/B creatures deck that exploits Unruly Mob and Gavony Unhallowed, and Westvale Abbey but I haven't had time to play around with it.

I will probably tweak my B/R vampire aggro and see how well it does with the new cards in it. I'm definately interested in Stensia Banquet, Stromkirk Occultist, Stromkirk Condemned, Insatiable Gorgers, and Furyblade Vampire.

B/U zombies or zombie horror would be awesome, especially a tribal zombie horror Thing In The Ice deck. I'm really liking the value you get out of Cemetery Recruitment much better than Macabre Waltz because you get that draw without the discard. Noosegraf Mob is going to be an awesome compliment to Thing In the Ice. Ruthless disposal also seems like a great card for contending with the Eldrazi Titans.

I like the idea of Boros Humans. It could be a really aggressive deck with the new Ride Down and Hanweir Garrison // Hanweir, the Writhing Township. Plus all the existing red humans in standard now, like Chandra, Fire of Kaldesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame, Abbot of Keral Keep, Dragonmaster Outcast, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, and Weapons Trainer. There could definitely be something there Skeri!  

[G. Moto]

  I'm glad you all have your creativity wheels turning.

[skeri]

Can someone explain the "escalate" mechanism to me? I was going over the card list and I'm a little confused on how it functions. The basic mana cost gives you the card's first ability and any additional abilities must be paid with the escalate cost?

[KouriNick]

Can someone explain the "escalate" mechanism to me? I was going over the card list and I'm a little confused on how it functions. The basic mana cost gives you the card's first ability and any additional abilities must be paid with the escalate cost?

That's my understanding. Let's imagine a case where we have Collective Brutality and a pair of swamps in hand. If you want to use just 1 of the three mode, tap two mana, and cast like normal. If you want to cast 2 modes, tap two mana and discard a card as part of the casting cost (so if you discard something with madness it will resolve before Collective Brutality will), then you get your two effects. Same idea with 3. The main thing is the escalate cost is part of the casting cost of the spell and must be paid as the card is cast.

Hope that clears things up, and please correct me if I'm wrong

[G. Moto]

  @KouriNick, you're on the right track. In the case of collective brutality you would pay the mana cost of the spell and then pay whatever more per mode to escalate the card as you are playing it. So yes that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

[skeri]

Things went pretty well this weekend and I did use the "escalate" ability properly thanks to you guys! At sealed I threw together a B/W lifelink deck and it worked out pretty well and had lots of potential. I may go that route with my first constructed deck with the new cards. I also got a copy of Liliana which was awesome.

Anyone else have any new deck ideas now that there has been opportunity to play with the new set? Or did anyone pull anything cool in a pack?

[KouriNick]

At sealed I threw together a B/W lifelink deck and it worked out pretty well and had lots of potential. I may go that route with my first constructed deck with the new cards. I also got a copy of Liliana which was awesome.

Anyone else have any new deck ideas now that there has been opportunity to play with the new set? Or did anyone pull anything cool in a pack?

Congrats on the Liliana Skeri! She seems super powerful and 3 mana plainswalkers are always amazing in constructed. Most exciting thing I pulled was a Spell Queller and Collective Effort, and so I tried to make a White Blue fliers deck. It went pretty good, and Escalate is an amazing effect. Getting to play with Spell Queller made me like him even more and I may actually try to make a standard version of Blue/White spirits.

I saw a lot of people playing White / Red aggro, and that deck seemed pretty good, especially if they got Ride Down. Of course Green White humans is still amazing, and I'm pretty sure the girl playing it at my event won overall.

This is a super interesting set, and I'm excited to start drafting it!

[skeri]

This is a super interesting set, and I'm excited to start drafting it!

It really is! I thought I wasn't going to like the Eldrazi cosmic/horror thing, but it's actually turned out to be a really cool story line and they tied everything in well. The Eldrazi horror cards are very unique, it's definately something I never thought of seeing. This Friday will be interesting at FNM just to see what people are already doing with their new cards and deck ideas.

[Mnemosyne]

Things went pretty well this weekend and I did use the "escalate" ability properly thanks to you guys! At sealed I threw together a B/W lifelink deck and it worked out pretty well and had lots of potential. I may go that route with my first constructed deck with the new cards. I also got a copy of Liliana which was awesome.

Anyone else have any new deck ideas now that there has been opportunity to play with the new set? Or did anyone pull anything cool in a pack?

I pulled this at my pre-release  Not bragging or anything 

[skeri]

Ooh lucky!My boyfriend plays sealed events and then lets me keep the cards he gets so I got Spell Queller and Assembled Alphas. I did get Midnight Scavengers and Graf Rats so Chittering Host is a thing. Let me know how awesome the Brisela meld gets in an actual game!